What cartridge is on your Technics SL12xx ?

[cafe latte]

Well while I'm sure some MCs would sound fine with the SL-1200 I'm not a fan of them because you have to replace the whole cartridge when the stylus wears out/becomes damaged .

I have a lot of nice mc's I use on my sl1210mk2. I think the arm benefits from the Kab oil damper, but the arm is fine for very nice mc's.
Chris

[zoup-man]

I have finally setup my denon dl 103R on my 1200g to my satisfaction. Great cartridge.

[oldschool1955]

New to the forum and really enjoying the wealth of knowledge shared here.

My SL-1700 MKII, I bought new in 1980, was starting to have speed stability issues so just bought a SL-1210GR from Guitar Center yesterday and did a quick setup with my vintage Stanton 881S with an original low hour stylus and have to say it sounds fantastic. Will take apart the old SL-1700 MKII nd clean the speed control pots and maybe replace some of the old electrolytics and hope this fixes the speed issue and use it in a bedroom setup. the 1700 is a great machine but have to say I am loving the 1210GR.

[Sterling1]

I started with Shure M97xE on my 1200GR then shifted to Denon DL 103R and now back to Shure M97xE. I seem to have found a sweet spot for my Shure but when I can muster enough patience I will try the Denon again. I was unsuccessful in taming sibilance with the Denon.

Did you mount the M97 to the Technics headshell? I did and discovered the cart was nose low even with VTA at lowest setting. It appears I need a spacer. How did you resolve this condition?

[lightcamera]

Great Topic! On a SL1210 MKII

For the clean vinyl, I use an Audio-Technica AT440MLb (discontinued, but supposedly its just been renamed VM540ML). I also have a vintage NAD 9300 which I use on well worn vinyl, as it is more forgiving. Both are mounted on simple Ortofons. The AT440MLb delivers a lot of depth and richness. The NAD 9300 reduces the pops and crackles, and is still a musical cart, but the audio isn't as rich as the AT440MLb.

[laffs4sale]

New to the forum and really enjoying the wealth of knowledge shared here.

My SL-1700 MKII, I bought new in 1980, was starting to have speed stability issues so just bought a SL-1210GR from Guitar Center yesterday and did a quick setup with my vintage Stanton 881S with an original low hour stylus and have to say it sounds fantastic. Will take apart the old SL-1700 MKII nd clean the speed control pots and maybe replace some of the old electrolytics and hope this fixes the speed issue and use it in a bedroom setup. the 1700 is a great machine but have to say I am loving the 1210GR.

Congratulations on your table. I was looking at Guitar Center to buy one, since they sell the GR and I've heard of them, unlike the many small mom & pop outfits that sell it. Do you know if Guitar Center is an authorized retailer? Because I didn't see them listed on the Technics website as an official distributor.

[laffs4sale]

Recently mounted a VM540 and a mono VM610 on two original Technics headshells. They sound extremely well on my 1210mkII. I considered the MC variants AT offers for only a fraction more money, but after listening to the VM series and reading several reviews, I quickly made up my mind. An additional consideration making this decision, is my conviction a MM cart makes for a better match with the SL1200 series tonearm rather than a MC cart. Perhaps in the future I'll upgrade to MC on a Rega or Thorens or something, but for now I'm very satisfied and able to enjoy some true Hi-Fi both in mono and stereo. I listen a of jazz and some of the original fifties and early sixties RVG records I'm fortunate to have in my collection, sound awesome!

Sounds great. I was looking at this same combo because I can swap them without changing VTA, VTF, or other parameters. Have you been able to "hot-swap" them?

[Sterling1]

I mounted a Shure V15V-MR today to the stock headshell on my SL1210GR. It required a 2mm spacer and a VTA setting of 0 to level the cart on a 180 gram LP setting on the stock 3mm rubber mat. Tastes great.

[Sterling1]

I replaced Shure V15V-MR micro ridge stylus yesterday with a Jico SAS stylus. So far, although I sense a different tone overall I can not say I prefer one over the other.

[AUTOBOT]

Recently bought the Ortofon Concorde Century for my SL-1210M5G love it!
https://www.ortofon.com/concorde-century-p-862-n-14139
KAB mods I did myself
Fluid damper
Delrin-AF Thrust Plate
Thrust Plate Wax Mod
Tonearm Resonance Cap
Isonoe Suspension Footers
Record clamp (the discontinued threaded spindle version)
Thick Technics platter mat.
External KAB rumble filter.
My other carts
Dynavector 20x High output MC
KAB ProS Cartridge w/STY40 Stylus
Grado Gold1(hums near spindle)
Shure V15Vx with SAS boron aluminum cantilever

[Sterling1]

Recently bought the Ortofon Concorde Century for my SL-1210M5G love it!
https://www.ortofon.com/concorde-century-p-862-n-14139
KAB mods I did myself
Fluid damper
Delrin-AF Thrust Plate
Thrust Plate Wax Mod
Tonearm Resonance Cap
Isonoe Suspension Footers
Record clamp (the discontinued threaded spindle version)
Thick Technics platter mat.
External KAB rumble filter.
My other carts
Dynavector 20x High output MC
KAB ProS Cartridge w/STY40 Stylus
Grado Gold1(hums near spindle)
Shure V15Vx with SAS boron aluminum cantilever

Now, are you loving it more than the Shure w/SAS?

[AUTOBOT]

Now, are you loving it more than the Shure w/SAS?

A resounding yes!
The Shure with the SAS is astonishing and wildly holographic I liked it do much I bought 2 more SAS Boran/Aluminum cantiliver SAS styluses...for some reason Jico dropped that design in favor of Ruby and Sapphire options.
I have a Sound Smith Ruby it was so far off the original sound I put it away until Jico released theirs.
The Boron/Aluminum cantilever sounded more like the original Beryllium and the SAS profile took the Shure to new heights.
But the new Ortofon Concorde Century is downright jaw dropping and shockingly realistic its also quiet.
I will keep the Shure and my other carts because I like to swap carts from time to time (thank you Technics for the ease).

[Andrei_nz]

I already had a Benz Wood SL on my tonearm. Now that I have a second SL1210 I have invested in a Charisma Ref-2. This is a truly fabulous cartridge and my LPs now sound better than my CDs.
I take Shadowman's point about not being able to replace the stylus. Actually you can have the cartridge retipped and I have recently done that with the help of Soundsmith.

[reynolds753]

I put an Audio Technica VM540ml on my 1200M3D a few weeks ago. I do not have very many hours on it and was wondering what is considered a good amount of break in time for this cartridge?

[Shadowman82]

But how much is it to send your MC cartridge in and have it retipped ? I do know that buying a stylus for a MM cartridge does cost less than having to buy a whole new cartridge .